Mindset is Everything
Hey Parents!
Here at Camp Curious, we help campers focus on their Mindset about learning, coping with challenges and making mistakes. Mindset refers to your set of established attitudes. In our Mindset Curio series, psychologist Carol Dweck (who literally wrote the book on Mindset) shares her insights on utilizing a growth mindset with members of Curious.com.
A tale of two mindsets
The research I presented in my book Mindset shows there are two different ways of understanding our own abilities. In a fixed mindset, we believe our basic abilities are simply fixed. We hope we have a lot but we worry that we don't. In a growth mindset, we believe our abilities can be nurtured and developed through learning.
When failure is not a failure
A fixed mindset limits us. We're afraid to try things because failure would mean we aren't smart or talented after all. But, in a growth mindset, failures are turned into something positive: a stepping stone to further learning. Here, the only true failure in life is not reaching for the things we value, and not fulfilling our potential.
Everybody has fixed mindset "triggers"
When I first "discovered" the two mindsets, I realized I had suffered from a fixed mindset my whole life. No wonder I was always so concerned about mistakes and failures. We now know everyone has some fixed mindset lurking inside them. Here are some common things that can trigger your fixed mindset: stepping out of our comfort zone, being criticized, or experiencing a failure or rejection—or even just thinking about the possibility of criticism, failure, or rejection. Do any of those raise your blood pressure? Learning to recognize your triggers is the first step to taming your fixed mindset.
What makes successful people successful?
While humans differ in every which way, we all share one universal trait: we can only grow through application and experience. So many "unpromising" people—musicians, athletes, scientists, entrepreneurs—accomplished great things with passion, hard work, and training. But this mindset has to be constantly nurtured, or we slip back into fixed mindset thinking and behaviors. In thirty years of research, we've found that successful people—almost no matter how you define the word—are significantly better at managing their fixed mindset and nurturing their growth mindset.
EXERCISE: Practice listening to your growth mindset
Mindsets are just beliefs. They're powerful beliefs, but they're just something in your mind, and you can change your mind. After carefully reading the paragraphs above, think about where you'd like to go in your life, and which mindset will take you there.
Now do the following exercise:
Write down a challenge or risky decision that you are currently facing (e.g. interviewing for a bigger job, or applying to go back to college or graduate school).
Make a list of fixed mindset arguments (e.g. "I'm probably not qualified anyway" or "What if people find out I didn't get in?") for avoiding the challenge.
Now list the growth mindset arguments in favor of the challenge (e.g. "Even just the interview process will be a learning experience" or "I don't want to look back and know that I didn't try").
Which arguments came most easily to you? Which ones were motivated by what other people will think, versus what is best for you long term?
If you were able to reject the fixed mindset arguments and listen to the growth mindset ones, would you make a different decision?